Bottle-capping machine



c. w. KENDAL-L BOTTLE cAPING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1920"" v 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec.

c. vw. KENDALL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1,920

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dee. 15 1925.

c. w. KENDAuL I BOTTLE CAPPINGLMCHINE File@ Juna 4, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 SMM/1to1:

' of operation so as thereby to convert it intov Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES;

PATENT ortica.'

CARL' WALKER KNDALL, on eLENsInE, rnnnsrrvnnir, lxssienon ro c'oL-UMB'I MAGHINE AND s'iorrnn co. rnc.,- or NEW Yom; n. Y.; A coitrcRA'rioN O'F EW YORK.

Application led y June 4,

To .fl/ZZ whom t 'may concern' y Be it known that l, CARL WALKER' KEN- i DALL, a citizen of the United States, residing lowing is a specification.

'illiisinvention is a bottle capping machinev of the kind used in applying a bottle closure generally known as the crown seal. The machine of the present invention is an improw/ement upon that covered United States Letters Patent No. 1,299,355, of April l, 1919, for ybottle capping machine. The principal objects of the invention are; first, to obtain a machine which with very little trouble may be reversed as to its direction either a righthand or a lefthand machine ac(- cording to the requirements of any vparticular installation; and second, to obviate the dragging of the bottles over the'bottle support While still preserving a straight line horizontal movementof the bottles asin the above noted patented machine. Other more particular objects and advantages of the machine of the present invention will hereinafter appear. I n

rlhe construction and operation ofthe double capping head, including its orbital 4movement in a vertical'plane, are substantially the same in the machine of the present invention as in the above noted patented machine, but radical changes *and*Y improvements have been made in the bottle carriage' mechanism by which the bottles are supported and moved horizontal-ly in' a given vertical plane beneath the capping head. The present invention more particularly in cludes features ofv construct-ion and combi` nations of parts asv will appear fromthefoll` lowing description'.

i shall now describe the bottle capping machine embodying the present inventionk illustrated in the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out'the invention in claims. Y

Figure i is a central vertical section from front to back of the complete' machine' with parts omitted, the section being talrenV on planes indicated by the line l--l of Figures ioTTLEf-GAPPING ivi-AGHINE.

19250; serial No.. essere'.

2, 3 and 41, as viewed from the right, and iii the upright position of the machine appearing in Figures 2 and 4. y y y Figure 2 `yis' a front elevation ofthe ma.- chine as viewedfrom the left in Figure l and lpartly in section oii vertical planes indicated by the line 2-2 of Figures l and 3.

Figure 3V is a plan View Withparts in horizontal sectionon planes `indicated by the lineS-B ofFigures l and 2. v

Figure l is an enlarged vertical section of the bottle carriage mechanism on planes indicated by the line 4-4 of Figures l and Fig-'ure 5 is a further enlarged perspective in a common vertical plane. The upper and the middle shafts 95 and l0 drive thev orbitally moving capping. head While the lower shaft ll drives ther intermittently'moving endless chain bottleca'rrier and itsadjuncts embodying features Aof my present invention in combination with the orbitally moving capping head, the orbital movement of which is substantially the same as inthe above noted patented construction.

The construction and operation of the double capping head, illustratedin they accompanying drawings, are familiar and the means for imparti-ng orbital movement thereto are substantially the same as disclosed in the abovernotedvpatent and therefore need be described only brieliy for present purposes. y I A On the fronty ends of the shafts 9 and-T0 are eccentrics 12 and 13- which carry a vertical orbit link 14: upon which the capping head is mounted-for vertical adjustment by mea-ns of lugs, 1'5 on the capping head barrels 1 6, kone of which appears in Figure 1,

^ and-the two ofwhich are connected integrally by means of a web 17. It is necessary to adjust the vertical position of the capping head to various elevations above the bottle carrier or bottle carriage in order to adapt the machine to bottles of various heights and this adjustment is effected by means of a vertical screw 18, whose thread turns in a lug` i9 on the orbit link 14 and whose upper end is journaled in a lug 20 on the capping head connecting web 17. yllhe screw 19 may be turned by means of a pair of bevel gears 2l and a key shaft 22 journaled in the capping head web i7 and projecting forward through the main member 23 of the cap conveyer.

The driving shaft ll for the endless chain bottle carrier or bottle carriage is journaled in a supporting bracket 24 secured on the main frame part l and at its forward end this shaft carries an inner driving` arm which carries a pair of diametrically oppositely disposed eccentric pins 26, the outer ends of which are supported by an outer arm 27 which is fixed upon a stub shaft 28 journaled in an outboard bearing 29 secured to the supporting bracket 24. Rollers il() are mounted upon the eccentric pins 2G, the eccentricity of these pins being equal and also this eccentricity being equal to the eccentricity or throw of the eccentrics l2 and i3, these eccentrics and the eccentric pins 26 being arranged in phase correspondence as shown in Figure l. rlfhe two rollers 30 are adapted alternately to engage in downwardly opening open slots formed between depending projections 3l formed on the lower side of bottle-supporting links 3; which are pivotally connected together by means of pivot pins 33 to form an endless chain bottle carrier or bottle carriage. The bottle-supporting links 32 of the bottle carrier ride upon small rollers journaled upon the pivot pins 33 and which roll upon tracks 3.5 secured to the carriage-supporting brackets 24, and these bottle supporting links 32 are held in place by guide bars 33 and set flush in grooves in the upper marginal surface of the links 32 and of the supporting bracket 24 and are secured to the bracket 24.. The endless bottle carrying chain mad up of the connected bottle supporting links 32 is supported by similar sprocket wheels 37 and 38 having therein peripheral substantially semi-circular notches which are adapted to receive the small rollers 34 on the links connecting the pivot pins 33, as shown in AFigure 2. rthe sprocket wheel 37 is supported by a shaft 39, and the sprocket wheel 38 is fit-:ed upon a shaft 49, these shafts and 40 being supported by brackets projecting from the supporting bracket 24 as shown in Figure 2.

rilhe radius of each of the turret-driving pins 26 is the same as the radii of the equal t irow eccentrics l2 and 13, which carry the orbitali y revolving capping head, and these eccentrics and the pins 26 are set in synchronism so that the intermittent forward movement imparted by the eccentric pins 26 to the successive links` 32, each of which is adapted to carry a bottle7 will at all times correspond exactly with the horizontal component of movement of the capping head, whereby the relative movement between the bottle carriage links 32 and the capping head reduced to the simple vertical component of the capping head movement. in other wordsj there is no relative horizontal movement between the bottle-carrying links 32 of the bottle carriage and the capping head. A resilient pad 4l is set flush in the upper surface of each of the bottle-supporting links 32 concentrically with the capping' head to receive the bottles while under the pressure of the capping operation.

rlhe forward end of the sprocket shaft f 40 is geared by means of bevel gears 42 and 43 to a short horizontal shaft 44 which in turn at its other end is geared by means of bevel gears 45 and 46 to the lower end of a vertical bottle-feeding star wheel shaft 47 journaled in a supporting bracket 48 secured to the main supporting bracket 24. rit its upper end the star wheel shaft 47 drives a bottle-feeding star wheel 49. rlhe bottle-feeding star wheel 49 rotates above the surface of a small feed table 50 provided with an outer curved curb 5l for guiding` the bottles, a spring pressed curved bottle guide 52 forming a continuation of this curb and being pressed towards the star wheel and against the bottles by a coiled thrust spring 53 surrounding a headed stud 54 carried by the rail or curb 5l. The curb 5l and the spring-pressed bottle guard 52 co-operatc with the star wheel 49 to deliver the bottles successively in correct position centered upon the resilient pads 4l of the bottle-supporting links 32 of the endless chain bottle carrier or bottle carriage.

The driving means for the bottle-feeding star wheel 49 are adapted to permit this star wheel to yield rotatively to prevent the breaking of bottles should for any reason the bottles become ammed on the feed table 50 between the star wheel 49 and the curb 5l. On the top of the star wheel 49 there is secured a driving disc 55, for example by means of a pin 56, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. A flanged cap 57 is secured upon the upper end of the star wheel shaft 47 by means of a pair of set screws 58 (Figure 3) adapted to enter an annular groove 59 (Figure 2) in the 'upper end of the star wheel shaft 47 so that this driving cap 57 may be fixed to the star wheel shaft 47 to rot-ate therewith. The driving cap 57 is shown as further held in place by mea-ns of a washer G() and tap bolt Gl screwed into the upper end of the star wheel shaft 47. The driving disc 55 on the star wheel 49 is provided on plunger 63 will slip out of whichever ofthe recesses 62 .it happens to be engaged in, permitting the star wheel shaft 47 to rotate independently while the bottle-feeding star wheel- 49 may remain stationary until the jammed bottles are released. The driving gearing for the bottle-feeding star wheel 49 is ofcourse so proportioned as to drive the star wheel in proper timed relation with the j movements of the endless chain bottle car.

rier formed by the pivotally connected bottle-supporting links 32 and in view of the fact that the star wheel 49 is driven from the sprocket wheel 38 oi' this endless chain bottle carrier, it is evident that the star wheel will partake of the same inter# mittent movements that are imparted tothe bottle-supporting links 32 and hereinbefore described. Y

A; bottle conveyer isprovided for bringing thebottles'up to the star wheel 49 and feed-tablel). rlhis bottle conveyer comprisesa plurality, shown'as three, of paral-Y el conveyer chains 65 adapted to traveliin theirupperstretches in grooves formed'by a licor 66 ybetween longitudinal ribs 67 This bottle conveyer is shown as arranged at an inclination to the front of the machine and as having a supporting frame 68 secured to thestar .wheel bracket 48. At the wouter end'of t-he supporting frame 68, the conveyer chains 65 are supported by a sprocketcarryingouter shaft 69`journaledY in the outer end of the frame 68 and these chains are similarly supportedat the inner end, of

the frame 68 by a similar sprocket-carrying shaft 70 which forms a driving shaft for the conveyer chains 65. The conveyer chains 65 are driven in bottle-progressing, direction by means of driving connections from the outer end of theV stub shaft 28, which, as hereinbefore described, forms virtually a continuation of the bottle carrier shaft ll. rlfhese driving connections comprise'ya spur gear 7l on the outerend ofthe stub shaft 28, a similar spur gear `72 on the inner end of a short hollow shaft 73 journaled in an outerbracket 74 and connected at its outer end by a* pair of bevel gears 75Vwith the, adjacent end offa short horizontal shaft-76 c also journaled in-t-,heputerv 4bracket'74 as shown in Figure.v The .adjacentl projectv ing ends of theshortfhorizontal.shaftv l and of ,the conveyer driving shaft 7Q are: connected together f by" means vof. a flexible drivin@` shaft 77 ,shown as including a air ofy universal joints. y d

Each time the capping head descends in l `its orbital movementtwo bottles are capped. rElie-bottles are advancedt-he distance offene bottle froml another, corresponding tol the successive bottle-carrying links 32, during the upper and reverse part of thev orbital movement'of' the capping head, as illustrated inthe drawings, ofwhich particularlvsee Figure 1,*this` advance being' accomplished by one of the `eccentric pins 26, namely,that which is uppermost as shown in Figure l. During-the next halfrotation 'of the bottle carriage shaft l1, thelowereccent-ric pin 26, appearing in Figure vl, comes into playduring'the downward and lateral orbita-lv movement of the capping head, and advances the bottles through 'a further distance of one of the links vrlhis brings two vuncapped bottles directly under the capping head cylinders or barrels l6,`so that the two caps are applied during this' advancing movement Vofthe ytwo bottles7 and while, as above noted, ythe capping head andv the bottles carried by the bottle-supporting links 32 are travelingforward inthe same vertical planeat` the same speed, thisresult being due, ras above noted,,to thee'qulal eccentricityv p ofthe eccentric pins 26rv and the eccentric's 12 and' 13. Midway during both the upward and downward movement ,of the capping vhead* in its orbit, ,the bottle-supporting: links 32 ofthe intermittently moving carrier chain come to rest momentarily duringthc time thatlone of the roller-carrying eccentric pinsv 26 is passing out of the slot between the link projections 3l of thebottle-supporting links 32, and whilethe other'rollerlcarrying eccentric pin 26 is making its entrance into the nent succeeding slot between these adjacent projections 8l, as is clearly indicated by broken lines in Figure 4, of the drawings.

lThis arrangement provides for the forward rectilinear movement of the bottles during the capping operation at the same speed as the horizontal component of movel ment of theorbital capping head withoinl any dragging of the bottles over their supporting surfaces, the progression of the bottles being continually forward, together with their supports. The intermittent movement of the endless bottle carriage, made `up of the connected bottle-supporting links 32, Vand the correspondingv intermittent movement of Vthe bottle-feeding star wheel 49, provide l time -for the vertical component of the orbitally moving capping head to take place and `to'permit the bottles to be fed forward at the same speed V'of transverse movement'- as the:capping,head 'during thecapping operations. The cappedbottles `are deliv- 'ered onto a receiving shelf78projecting 'from jthe front of ythe ymachine fatk the Vleft moves the bottles transversely from right to left, as viewed from the front of the meichine, and as shown in Figures 2, 3 and et ot the drawings. By reason, however, of the above described construction ot the bottle-feeding and bottle carriage mechanism, this machine may readily be transformed into a machine in which the direction of bottle-progressing movement is reversed so that the bottles would travel from left to right as viewed in Figures 2, 3 and l of the drawings in such a modiiied machine. ln order to eii'ect this transformation from a right hand to a left hand machine it is only necessary to move the conveyer frame GS with its adjuncts Jrom the right to the lett side ot the machine, it being necessary how ever to provide a lett hand instead of a right hand supporting bracket, such as 48, for this conveyer and for the star wheel shaft a?, and also correspondingly to provide a lett hand instead ot a right hand star wheel, ifhe driving connections including the flexible shaft Ti" for the bottle conveyer are simply reversed from end to end, the sup porting bracket 7a simply being` turned halt way around from the position thereof shown in Figure 3. Similarly, places are eX- changed between the idler sprocket shaft 39 and the driving` sprocket shaft 40 for operating the star wheel 49, as will be readily understood. rl`he motor 2 is then simply arranged to drive the whole machine in the opposite direction.

lt is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown in the drawings and above particularly described within the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim:

l. A bottle capping machine comprising two vertical-plane eccontrics ot equal throw, means Jfor rotating them synchronously in angular phase correspondence, a capping head mounted on said ecoentrics to be orbitally revolved thereby in a vertical plane, an endless chain bottle carrier below the capping head provided y'ith a succession ot open slots, a third eccentric adapted to engage in and to be disengaged from different ones of said slots and having a throw equal to the throw oi" said vertical plane eccentrics, and means lor driving said third eccentric in synchronism and phase correspondence with said vertical plane eccentrios.

2. A bottle capping machine comprising two vertical-plane eccentrics of equal throw, means -tor rotating them synchronously in angular phase correspondence, a capping head mounted on said eccentrics to be orbitally revolved thereby in a vertical plane, an endless chain bottle carrier below the capping head having projections forming a series of open slots, a pair of diemetrically oppositely disposed eccentric pins adaptcd to work alternateiy in the successive slots and each having a throw equal to the throw ot said vertical-plane eccentrics, and means Jfor driving said pair oli eccentric pins in synchronl 1n and phase corr spondcncc with said ver ical plane ecce ics.

il. fr bottle capping machine comprising three vertical-piane ecccntrics ot the same radii and tvo ot which are located at a greater elevation than the third, means for rotating all, three eccentrics s),f'nchronously in angular phase correspondence, a capping head mounted on the upper two oli said eccentrics to be orbitally revolved thereby in a vertical plane, and an endless chain bottle carrier below the capping head and provided with a series of projections forming vertical slots adapted to be engaged by the lowermost oi said eccentrics.

A bottle capping machine comprising a series ot' bottle-supporting and bottlecar-ying members pivotedrtogether to form an endless chain bottle carrier adapted to receive and thereafter intermittently move bottles transversely horizontally, means for movably supporting said endless chain bottle carrier, driving means adaptedL to impart to said endless chain bottle carrier intermittent bottle progressing movement, sprockets over which said chain passes, said sprockets being intermittently rotated by said chain, a bottleeeding star 4wheel adapted and arranged to push the bottles into position upon the bottle-carrying supporting members of said endless chain bottle carrier, driving means for said star wheel connected to one of said sprockets for thereby intermittently rotating the star wheel along with the intermittent movement of said bottle carrier, a capping head, and means for imparting to said capping head a vertical component of movement to and from the bottles progressively as they are moved intermittently by said carrier.

5. The invention claimed in claim a in combination with an endless chain bottle conveyer Jfor delivering the bottles to the star wheel, and driving means for said conveyer connected to the driving means for said endless chain bottle carrier.

('3. A. bottle capping machine comprising a series ot bottle-supporting and bottlecarrying members pivoted together to form an endless chain bottle carrier adapted to receive and thereafter intermittently move bottles transversely horizontally, means for movably supporting said endless chain bottle carrier, driving means adapted to impart to said endless chain bottle carrier intermittent bottle progressing movement, sprockets over which said chain passes, said sprockets being intermittently rotated by said chain, a bottle-feeding star wheel adapted and arranged to push the bottles into position upon the bottlecarrying supporting members of said endless chain bottle carrier, driving means for said star Wheel connected to one of said sprockets for thereby intermittently rotating the star Wheel along With the intermittent movement of said bottle carrier, a capping' head, means for imparting to said capping head a ver-.

tical component of movement to and from the bottles progressievly as they are moved intermittently by said carrier, an endless chain bottle conveyor for delivering the bottles to the star Wheel, driving means for said conveyor connected tol the driving means for said endless chain bottle carrier, and a spring-pressed bottle guiding member adapted to cooperatev With said bottle conveyor Aand said star Wheel in feeding the bottles to the successive bottle-supporting members of the endless chain bottle carrier.

7. A bottle capping machine comprising a capping head, means for moving the capping head in a vertical plane in its cap applying operation, an'endless chain bottle carrier below the capping head having projections forming a series of open slots, Y

a pair of diametrically oppositely disposed V eccentric pins adapted to Work alternately in CARL WALKER KENDALL. 

